Day 335
When I think of teaching learners of all ages, I am reminded how I am still a lifelong learner and I have the opportunities to learn every day. Sometimes, my thirst for knowledge can get me stretched too thin. With so many avenues of information available, I often don't know which path to take. Do I take one topic and dig deep or do I get more informed about a plethora of topics? It’s tough to make that decision and I try to do a little bit of both. Of course, my sometimes high distractibility takes me off task and I sometimes forget more than I retain, but the journey to educate myself is always fun.
My involvement with the Ice Age Trail helps me learn about trail design and maintenance. I also have opportunities to become a certified sawyer, though I have not fit that into my schedule yet.
My participation with the Wild Ones native plant group not only helps me with plant identification, but provides extra native seeds we will eventually use in our prairie.
The Prairie Enthusiasts group has opened up my eyes to how I can improve and sustain the prairie in my outdoor classroom and my future farm prairie. It also opens up volunteer opportunities to learn about controlled burns.
As aforementioned, being a 4H family has opened up many new streams of information. So far, our focus has been on poultry. As our kids grow, they’ll choose different projects they are interested in. This will open even more opportunities.
Reaching out to many different groups connected to our wetland restoration has brought a huge and often overwhelming amount of new information to our world. While different individuals have provided different and occasionally contradictory ideas about the best way to restore our land, they have left us more knowledgeable. How we use that knowledge will be crucial to the development of our land.
Throw in my thirst to expand my understanding and implementation of early childhood education, environmental education, and play-based philosophies and I am always learning (or trying to) learn more. If all goes the way we hope, we’ll be able to share some of that knowledge soon.
